Front axles of the foregoing type are used in all-terrain vehicles, SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles), light to heavy commercial vehicles and buses. The joint connection between the steering knuckle and the wheel-guiding element, such as a rigid axle body or a guide of a single wheel suspension, in known constructions may be a king pin with two bearing sites or two separate steering knuckle bolts. Generally, needle bearings and needle bushings are used as a radial mounting. Axial forces are absorbed by a separate axial friction bearing or axial roller bearing. However, this bearing requires a particularly reliable seal and this has turned out to be a weakness in practice. The bearing must be lubricated at regular intervals in order to force dirt, water and wear debris out of the mounting and to supply the bearing parts with fresh lubricating grease. If the seal fails, a danger exists in that the bearing will become unusable after a short time.
There have also already been attempts to make steering knuckle bolt mountings which do not require maintenance. For this purpose, relatively long and thin needle bearings are used, which produce high edge compressions under load. All known constructions furthermore have the disadvantage that different components are required for the upper and lower bearing sites.